Drinkin' With Cookie Monster

Sing it with me: "I'm going on vacaaaation... I'm going on vacaaaation!" Despite my last post, and the fact that it's pouring out and the dripping will begin any minute, we're going away anyway. Screw it! This May, it's off to Beaches Turks & Caicos, the all-inclusive beach resort just like Sandals, but specifically geared to families, complete with Sesame Street characters.

Because in the grand scheme of things, does dropping three grand to go to Beaches really matter? The way I see it is, there are plenty of reasons to splurge:

1. Pat and I will be married five years in September, together 13 years next month. That's way longer than most marriages last these days and it's something to be celebrated dammit.
2. For the first time in our lives, all of our ass busting is financially paying off and we can afford it.
3. If we don't do it now, we're beat for a while. Coming soon... my mom's pending surgery, my sister's wedding prep, looking for our first house, and (hopefully) working on baby #2 next year.
4. It'll be our first real vacation that's just the three of us, in which we're not just visiting other family.
5. J.J. will get to celebrate his third birthday having breakfast with Elmo. How cool is that?!
6. I'm 30 years old and I don't have a passport -- it's time.
7. We'll pay it off in no time (extra hours when my boss goes on maternity leave, Pat's ever available overtime, new freelance assignments -- yes, I was just assigned an article for Parenting Mag!!!).
8. As wonderful as my honeymoon was, part of me was always bummed about not going to Sandals because I was too much of a wuss to fly at the time.
9. I get to have a tan in May for like the first time ever.
10. And finally... Sesame Street characters are much more tolerable after a few all-inclusive Mai Tais.